Two-Wheeled Trouble (Father's Day)
by SaraNomed
Summary: A short story in honor of Father's Day involving James' attempts to learn the art of bike-riding to teach his son...things will go smoothly! ...Right?


Throwing open the front door, Jeremy barreled into the house, almost tripping over his un-tied shoelace in his hurry to locate his quarry.

"Daaaaaad!" he called loudly, "Dad! Hey where are you?!"

Skidding into the kitchen, he nearly collided with a small worktable before a pair of arms reached out and stopped the six year-old in his tracks.

James smiled and shook his head, "Careful there, Jeremy. Are you trying to earn yourself some stitches...again?"

"Oops, no! Eww. Sorry, I-OH!" he pulled away and began hopping up and down with excitement, "Guess what guess what?!"

Before James had a chance to ask, the boy said, "Ethan's dad showed him how to ride a bike, a real bike! Issac and Reggie can too! I wanna ride bikes with them! Teach me Dad, please please please?! Can we do it today?"

Having gone back to prepping lunch, James' hands froze mid-chop of an onion. Of all the things they had learned along the way as parents, all the challenges, joys and frustrations, surprises and questions, this was not one he had anticipated. Thinking about it now, he mentally kicked himself for not realizing this day would come, and how unprepared he was.

Mind racing to come up with an excuse, he set down his knife, turned, and cleared his throat, "Th-that's wonderful, Jeremy! I'd uh, love to teach you but...well, right now I'm making lunch, and um, later I've got a lot of paperwork to do! Busy busy! Sorry, buddy."

With a shrug, Jeremy said, "That's okay! What about tomorrow?"

James nervously rubbed the back of his neck, "I-I don't know. Say, why don't you ask Mom to help you with it?"

"But...I want _you_ to teach me, Dad..." the boy said, his tone earnest.

Sighing, James kneeled down and rested his hand on Jeremy's shoulder, "Look, I know you do, but I don't know if I can. Things are really busy at the shop lately, and your Mom and I have a lot of work to do..."

The utter disappointment in his son's eyes felt like a knife right through his heart, and at this moment he hated himself a little. Scuffing his shoe on the floor, Jeremy mumbled that he understood and turned to leave.

Before he left the room, however, James made up his mind and said, "Hey, hold on."

Jeremy looked at him and he smiled broadly, "I'll teach you. I can't today, but I will. Soon. I promise. You'll be riding a bike with your friends in no time!"

His blue eyes shining, Jeremy darted back across the kitchen and hugged his father tightly, "Thank you Dad! You're the best!"

James hugged him back and chuckled, "Well, I try, anyway! Now go get cleaned up, and find your sister. Mom will be back soon, and lunch will be ready soon, too. Go on!"

Laughing, Jeremy ran off and dashed up the stairs calling to Jane, and James stood, his smile slowly fading as the reality of what he had vowed to do began to creep in.

Later that night, after the kids were in bed, James told Jessie and Meowth about his dilemma.

"I can't ride a bike!" he wailed, "How am I going to teach him?!"

Jessie shrugged, "Well, you're going to have to think of something. You did promise him after all. We just lucky with Jane practically teaching herself, I guess."

"But I've seen ya ride a unicycle-how's dat any different?" wondered Meowth.

"It's very different! There's two wheels instead of one, and then there's...oh, what am I going to do?" he flopped down on the couch, "I can't go back on my word! It'd break his little heart."

"Can't you just teach him without riding one yourself?" Jessie asked.

James shook his head, "Out of the question! How can I show him how it's done without knowing how to do it myself? What kind of example is that? Not to mention, I don't want him to find out what a loser his dad is..."

Smirking, Meowth said, "I tink he already knows dat one, Jim."

"Ah yes, thank you for your support." said James sourly.

Jessie sat next to him and reassuringly touched his cheek, "I think it's time you finally learned how to ride a bike on your own..." with a wink she added, "Trainer James."

He raised his eyebrow at her but smiled back, laying his hand on hers as his spirits lifted a bit, "I suppose you've got a good point there, Chainer Jessie. Alright then, this settles it. Tomorrow, the training wheels come off!"

The next day, while Jeremy was out with his friends, James made a run to the nearest bicycle shop and selected a small red and silver model as a surprise for him, as well as a deep, shiny blue one for himself. Wheeling them home, he happily whistled as the bikes clicked along, thinking of all the fun they'd have together on rides around the city. Returning home, he quickly stashed Jeremy's in the attic under several ragged storage boxes he knew the boy never messed with, and took his own to the backyard.

Swinging himself into the seat, he grinned and said out loud, "This is gonna be a piece of cake! Here goes!"

Pushing off with one foot, he wobbled along briefly before losing his balance and crashing to the ground. Yelping in pain as he landed on his elbow and the bike chain scratched his leg, after a moment he pushed the bike off of himself and shakily stood. His pride was stinging as much as his shin as he glared down at the bicycle.

"Listen here!" he pointed at it, "I need to learn to do this for Jeremy, and you need to cooperate! Got it?"

Lifting it upright, he climbed back on and pushed off again-only to topple to the dirt yet again. This scenario repeated itself for the next couple hours, over and over again, with him managing to hobble a short distance before falling over. Finally, in pain and exasperation, he pulled himself slowly to his feet and stood glowering at the metal and rubber object in front of him.

"Maybe I can't do it after all..." he grumbled, "I really _am_ a loser!"

Furious, he kicked a tire and turned away, then froze as a memory abruptly hit him like a bolt of lightning...

 _A young, excited James trotted into the room where his parents were eating brunch, his nanny failing to keep up with her energetic charge._

 _Running up to the table, James held up his hands to reveal a ball and addressed his father loudly,"Look father! Look! It's a baseball!"_

 _"Use your inside voice, James," the man replied coolly, "And yes, I can see that it is indeed a baseball, yet I fail to see your point."_

 _"Well, I was watching a movie where a boy learns how to play this game from his father, and he goes on to be a world-famous baseball player! Could you please teach me? Oh, please?"_

 _His father took another relaxed sip of his tea, taking his time before replying, "That absurd movie is merely a fantasy scenario. You have no business playing a commoner's game or getting yourself all filthy."_

 _His mother added, "You are meant for bigger and better things than a silly pastime like baseball, my dear James."_

 _Nodding, his father said, "Quite so, my darling. Thusly, no son, I will not. It's for your own good," he plucked the ball from James' hands and disdainfully handed it over to a nearby servant, "Now, if I recall, do you not have piano lessons soon?"_

 _His shoulders sinking, James nodded obediently as he allowed his nanny to lead him away..._

Snapping back to the present, James clenched his fists and whirled back around, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"I will not do the same thing to my children that was done to me!" he growled, determination welling up in him like a fire.

Wrestling the bike to an upright position, he wheeled it closer the house intending to use the wall as a balancing aide and mounted the seat once again. One hand in a white-knuckle grip on the handlebar, the other relaxed a bit more so as to catch himself if need be, he attempted once more to ride farther than a pathetically short distance. As with every other time, after only moments the bike began to wobble precariously.

"No! No no no no!" he cried, throwing his arm out to grab the wall, "Not this time!"

Whether through sheer force of will or the last couple hours giving him some actual practice, incredibly, he managed to stay upright and even made it to the corner of the house without falling. Planting one foot to stop himself, he laughed triumphantly.

"Ha! I knew I'd figure it out. Hang in there, Jeremy!"

Later, Jessie returned home from some extra work at their store to find James sitting on the edge of the bathtub with a bottle of disinfectant and a scattering of bandages around him. Numerous scratches and scrapes were strewn across his arms and legs, with a couple on his face as well.

"What did you _do?!_ " she gaped.

He glanced up at her wearily, "I tried to learn to ride a bike..."

With a long-suffering sigh, Jessie set her purse down and snatched the bottle from him. Taking a wad of cotton she soaked it with the solution and sitting next to him, began to dab at his wounds.

Jessie shook her head, "The things you'll put yourself through..."

"It's for Jeremy. I'd do anything for our kids!" he replied firmly.

"Oh, I can see that!" she muttered, then her expression softened and she kissed his cheek, "I know you would..."

They were quiet for a minute before she suddenly smirked.

"We certainly haven't had to do this for quite some time, have we?"

"You mean bandage each other up after another blast-off?"

She nodded, "Mm-hmm."

He smiled, "You were always the best nurse of us three."

"Well, thank you," she proudly said, applying the many band-aids, "I suppose one of us had to be...there we go. All cleaned up."

As James put things away and Jessie turned to leave, she suddenly paused and sighed, "I'm going to have to be doing this a lot for the next few days, aren't I?"

With a sheepish grin he replied, "More than likely..."

The next morning at breakfast, the usual controlled chaos was underway.

Jessie reached over and grabbed Jeremy's spoon, handing it to him, "Jeremy, please scoop up your cereal with this, not with your toast!"

"Hey! Are we outta eggs? " Meowth called over his shoulder as he refiled through the fridge.

"Woobaaa!" said the blue Pokemon, pointing to the carton sitting on the counter.

Amidst all this, Jane stopped mid-bite and pointed at James, noticing his collection of band-aides for the first time, "Daddy! What happened? Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine, princess!" he replied reassuringly, "I just fell down, that's all!"

Jane giggled, "You have more on than Jeremy usually does!"

"Hey!" the boy said, "What's that mean?"

Jane stuck her tongue out at him, and he responded by using the spoon he had been handed to fling a blob of jelly at her, hitting her square on the forehead.

 _"Mooooom!"_ she wailed.

Jessie hit her fist on the table, nearly spilling her coffee and snarled, "That's ENOUGH!"

Knowing well when not to anger the queen any further, everyone quickly went back to their various activities.

Later in the evening, after the shop was closed up, dinner was eaten and Jessie and Meowth were getting the kids ready for bed, James headed outside to practice some more. He pulled the now not-so-shiny bike from it's hiding spot and again wheeled it next to the house, climbing on and pushing off. After last night's small but uplifting victory he was feeling confident-perhaps a bit too much, for nearly as soon as he started to pedal, he found himself on the ground. Despite this frustrating setback, as always, he pulled it upright and tried again. And again. As he practiced, he never noticed the small face in an upstairs window watching...

This scenario repeated itself over the next couple of days, with James going out in the evenings to practice, and, as Jessie predicted, with him coming back in covered anew in scratches and cuts that she would help him to clean up. He also had to keep making excuses to Jeremy whenever the boy asked if he could teach him yet, on top of dodging Jane's questions about why he still had so many 'boo-boo's.

Ultimately, after days of painful failure, he managed to master the craft, riding in circles around the backyard, even doing little hops for the sheer fun of it. Laughing as he speed around the little track that had begun to form around the perimeter, he felt more proud of himself than he had in quite some time. Now, here at last was a skill he could pass on that was not only fun, but could end up being very important to his son sometime.

Skidding to a halt, he drew a deep, contented breath and gazed up at the rising moon, "Alright. Tomorrow, the lessons begin!"

True to his word, after breakfast was eaten and cleaned up the next morning, James said to Jeremy, "Hey! Can you come with me for a minute buddy?"

"What is it?"

"Oooh, you'll see. Come on, let's go outside!"

Jeremy tagged close behind as they went out the door, James throwing Jessie a wink over his shoulder as they went. Going around behind the house, Jeremy abruptly froze as he spied a small, red and silver bike sitting in the middle of the yard.

"Is...is that for me?" he stammered, eyes wide.

James went over next to it, "Yes it is! Surprise! I thought that-"

Before he could finish, Jeremy bolted over with an ecstatic scream and tackled him in a hug, nearly knocking him over.

His eyes welling up the boy cheered, "Thank you thank you thank you! This is the best! Day! Ever! It's really mine?! All mine? Thank you Dad!"

Laughing, James hugged him back, "You're welcome! I know your birthday isn't for another month but I thought an early present wouldn't hurt. So..." he set him down and walked over to wheel his own bike closer, "Want to learn to ride it today?"

The two spent the better part of the day working together as Jeremy slowly learned how to ride his new bike. James would get on his own and demonstrate, then help Jeremy to try it himself. More than once the young boy toppled over, and though James nearly went into a panic checking him over every time, Jeremy insisted he was fine and begged to try again. By the end of the day he had made considerable progress, almost able to ride a good distance on his own without James holding the back of the seat.

As they sat together in the cool grass, watching the sun slowly sink into the bay in the distance, Jeremy said, "Best day ever, Dad."

James put his arm around him, "Agreed. You want to try again tomorrow?"

"Mm-hmm! " his face suddenly became serious, "Hey Dad...?"

"What's wrong?"

Jeremy swallowed audibly and played with a few blades of grass, "I heard Uncle Meowth say that you didn't know how to ride a bike and that you've been learning the past few days and that's why you didn't wanna teach me..." he looked up at his father, "Is...that true?"

 _'That rotten cat and his big meowth!'_ thought James in annoyance.

Looking at his questioning, he didn't have the heart to lie and sighed deeply, "Yes, Uncle Meowth was right. I never learned to ride a bike when I was a kid. No one taught me, and I never had the chance to learn on my own."

"Why didn't you just tell me that?"

"I felt like I needed to know before I taught you..."

Jeremy looked away to stare thoughtfully toward the molten gold and red horizon before turning back and saying quietly, "I wouldn't have minded learning _with_ you, Dad..."

Now it was James' turn to swallow loudly, pushing back the lump in his throat as he saw the honesty and non-judgmental love in his boy's eyes, and at that moment the pride he had felt learning to ride a bike was dwarfed by the pride he felt for his son.

Pulling him onto his lap, he hugged him close and rested his chin in the boy's soft mauve hair, "You make a good argument. Alright, next time, we'll learn whatever-it-is together, okay?"

"Okay!" laughed Jeremy, cuddling closer.

They were quiet for a minute before James said softly, "I love you, buddy."

"Love you too! Dad?"

"Yes?"

"You're weird."

With a chuckle, James tickled him then scooped him up, and laughing together they went back inside...


End file.
